Thursday, May 22, 2008

Call or e-mail Detroit City Council members to STICK WITH THEIR RESOLUTION to support a new waste model for Detroit.

Ask Council members to

--Allocate money to begin a pilot curbside recycling program and other projects to ramp up RECYCLING and INVESTMENT IN NEW JOBS and ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT related to resource recovery THIS YEAR;

--REJECT the Administration's current consideration of BUYING BACK the incinerator and extending contracts to keep the incinerator going for four more years. Why buy back the plant to buy time to plan for future recycling?

We can stop foreclosures in Michigan! But only a mass movement can do it – by winning passage of Senate Bill 1306 (a 2-year moratorium on foreclosures) introduced by Senator Hansen Clarke last week. You can be sure the bill will go nowhere unless every progressive group and individual gets out organizing – leading up to a huge occupation of people outside the Capitol. With hundreds of thousands of foreclosures in Michigan this is possible. The bankers have already denounced the bill. Will you take on these bankers with us?

Statewide Office for the Moratorium NOW! is now openThe Moratorium NOW! Coalition now has a state-wide office. The Grand Opening was on Monday, May 12. It will serve as the nerve center for building the grassroots, mass movement that is needed to win the 2-year moratorium. We thank Rev. Rowe of the Central United Methodist Church and the Michigan Welfare Rights Organization for making this happen.

Hours will certainly expand as the movement picks up steam.We need organizing centers around the stateEvery city, every town and every village in this state needs to be organized! Become an organizing center. It's not hard, and we will help you in any way that we can. Call 313-319-0870 today!

Already, the Moratorium NOW! coalition has an organizing center in Benton Harbor. If you live in or near Benton Harbor, please contact Pastor L. Andre Golliday, of the World Embassy Church, at 269-325-7816, to get involved in this very important campaign.

Email your elected state representatives We have made it easy to do. Go to www.moratorium-mi.org and click on theJOIN the Email Campaign for a Moratorium NOW link.

Then call your own state senator and representative repeatedly, and insist that they support Sen. Clarke's bill calling for a 2-year moratorium on foreclosures. The phone numbers are available at the website.

"The Foreclosure Crisis: What Can We Do About It?"Senator Hansen Clarke will be giving a speech "The Foreclosure Crisis: What Can We Do About It?", the Saturday, May 17, at 10 AM at the Royal Oak Community Center, 3500 Marais, Royal Oak.

Leaflets and Background infoGet leaflets and background material on the foreclosure crisis at the Moratorium NOW! website. We will post them as soon as they becomes available.

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

UAW members and supporters will rally at 11:30 am on April 18th at Detroit’s Hart Plaza to support striking workers at American Axle.

More than 3,500 UAW members from UAW Locals 235, 262 and 2093 in Michigan and UAW Locals 424 and 826 in New York have been on strike since February 26 to protest unfair labor practices.

“The support our members have received during this strike is overwhelming,” said UAW President Ron Gettelfinger. “We’ve heard from members of the clergy, from local businesses, from community leaders - and of course from UAW members and the entire labor movement.”

“Our rally on April 18th will be a great time to show solidarity with American Axle strikers, and to demonstrate support for keeping manufacturing jobs here in the United States,” said Gettelfinger.

“Even business publications, like the Automotive News, can’t understand how American Axle can justify giving pay raises to executives while demanding pay cuts from workers,” said UAW Vice President James Settles Jr., who directs the union’s American Axle Department.

“In addition to their unjustified economic demands,” said Settles, “AAM has refused to provide us the information we need for bargaining, and has illegally cut off disability payments and health care for injured workers, as well as compensation — including health care– for laid off workers. That’s why this is an unfair labor practices strike.”

“Our members at American Axle are standing up for what’s right - and we’re inviting our entire community to stand with us on April 18th at Hart Plaza.”

Click Here for more information about the rally from the U.A.W.’s Main Site

Tuesday, April 08, 2008

THE WATER FRONT is a newly released documentary with a gripping plot following a post industrial community in their struggle against water privatization. The sound track includes the soulful tunes of Detroit bluesman Joe L. Carter’s and resonates with anyone who uses their water tap and takes pride in their home.